Archive | April, 2012

I sure hope my children would have been among the students who had the guts to get up and leave as soon as a gay-activist speaker started Bible bashing. Heck, I wouldn’t even want them there in the fist place.

Photo by Creative Commons

Can you believe it? My Grandma Mabel is probably rolling in her grave. At a national journalism conference recently, an anti-bullying “specialist” named Dan Savage told his teenage audience, “We can learn to ignore the bullshit that is in the bible.” And he was just warming up (see video below). A student reported that one of the first things he told them was, “I hope you’re all using birth control.”

There’s a girl who is the first to leave the attack. She is seen painfully rubbing her temples as she is walking away. This student has a disgusted look on her face.

Well, I want that young lady for a daughter-in-law some day! Her parents obviously raised her to be a brave leader, and about 99 other youngsters ended up following her right out the door and into the hall. What did Savage do about this? He mocked them. He bullied them. Hey, wait a minute…Wasn’t he supposed to be speaking against bullying?

Who is this savage man anyway?

Dan Savage has been writing Savage Love since 1991 for The Stranger, an alternative weekly paper in Seattle, that syndicates his articles to more than 50 other newspapers. You might remember him as the guy who was so obsessed with physically harming Gary Bauer’s 2000 campaign. He writes about this “Germ Warfare” in The Stranger:

“Naked, feverish, and higher than a kite on codeine aspirin, I call the Bauer campaign and volunteer. My plan? Get close enough to Bauer to give him the flu, which, if I am successful, will lay him flat just before the New Hampshire primary. I’ll go to Bauer’s campaign office and cough on everything. Phones and pens. Staplers and staffers. I even hatch a plan to infect the candidate himself; I’ll keep a pen in my mouth until Bauer drops by his offices to rally the troops. And when he does, I’ll approach him and ask for his autograph, handing him the pen from my flu-virus-incubating mouth.”

Do you remember this?

“When Sen. Rick Santorum suggested that the arguments being made in the Lawrence v. Texas case on gay sex might lead to the idea that all consensual sexual activity, from bestiality to adultery to polygamy, etc., should be legal, Savage got so mad that he asked his readers to come up with a disgusting definition for which the word “Santorum” would be used.” (quote taken from a Get Religion article)

I’ve read somewhere that Savage and his “husband” have a child. I sure hope he watches his language when he’s with Junior, unlike he does when he’s speaking to other people’s children.

Dan Savage has followers…But why?

Savage has managed to syndicate his column internationally and build a readership of millions.

He has garnered widespread acclaim for his “It Gets Better” campaign–the talk that the 100 kids walked out of. this is an effort to prevent suicide among gay youth by having LGBT adults convey the message that the lives of these teens will eventually improve if they embrace their sexuality. The effort has been supported by dozens of influential politicians (Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton), celebrities (Justin Bieber, Tom Hanks) and corporations (Google, Apple). The message is a worthy one—no young person should be bullied, much less be driven to suicidal angst over it—but the inescapable fact is that for those who follow Savage’s advice, heterosexual or homosexual, it won’t “get better.” (according to First Things by Joe Carter)

It amazes me that people even care to hear what this promoter of hedonism has to say, since he is a self-proclaimed liar. Savage once admitted to lying about his residency in order to fraudulently vote in the Iowa primary. He was charged with a felony but pled guilty to a misdemeanor, making Savage a convicted liar and fraud.

Watch the video

You can see in the video that not all of the students agreed with Dan Savage during his recent “It Gets Better” discussion. If you are a Christian parent, and see your kid on this You Tube clip exiting the abuse…Well, give that kid of yours a big, giant kiss! That’s what I’d do! Maybe even buy him or her a Chipotle burrito!

It’s good to know that even some gay rights supporters are mad about how Savage attacked Christians. Todd Starnes of Fox News wrote that the executive director of GOProud, Jimmy LaSalvia, called Savage’s behavior “outrageous” and demanded an apology.

“Dan Savage should apologize for his comments and should apologize to the high school students in attendance whom he called ‘pansy-asses,’” continued LaSalvia. “It is ironic that someone whose claim to fame is fighting bullying would resort to bullying tactics in attacking high school students who were offended by his outrageous remarks.”

A response

How do we respond to Dan Savage on homosexuality and the Bible? A blogger for National Catholic Register, Jimmy Akin, posted the video below:

(Thanks to Paula Linnen and Vince and Lysa Flynn for sending articles on this subject my way!)

I got a great email this morning from School Sister of Notre Dame Joyce Kolbet, an avid turkey hunter who went out in the woods for Minnesota’s Season B last week.

She is the vocations director at the Our Lady of Good Counsel Campus in Mankato in the Diocese of New Ulm. I first met her in 2006 when I did a story on her fly-fishing exploits for The Catholic Spirit. We have tried to stay in touch, and I wanted to hear how she did last week, so I sent her an email requesting details of her time in the woods.

She hunted hard all week and finally was rewarded with a nice tom Thursday morning about 8:45 a.m. After spending the first three days near Good Thunder, someone she knew offered her a chance to hunt a different area where birds were hanging out.

She got there the night before and saw a bunch of birds roosted in some trees on the property. A blind already was set up – only 80 yards away.

A perfect setup, except for one thing – the turkeys didn’t cooperate the next morning.

“Nothing came out at sunrise,” she said. “I thought for sure they would come out in my direction and walk out into this alfalfa field where I was set up.”

But, turkeys being the unpredictable birds they are, they threw a curve ball at Sister Joyce and went in another direction. Fortunately, she has learned one of the hardest lessons in this sport – patience. Thus, she stayed put in the blind and waited for another opportunity.

Around 8 a.m., she heard a gobble in the distance. She did some yelps on her slate call and waited. Then, she heard another gobble, closer this time. Once more, she did a soft call on her slate and put it down. She was done calling.

Finally, she caught sight of the tom walking along the edge of the woods toward her blind at about 90 yards. When it reached 46 yards, she fired, ending a hard four days of hunting.

Sister Joyce hunted with three others, and they spent lots of time in the woods near Good Thunder throughout each day last week. But, gobbles and bird sightings were rare. The three others stayed in the area after she left, and one of them shot a year-old gobbler, called a jake. That was it.

“I can’t figure it out,” she said. “We talked to other hunters out in that area and people just had not seen birds, or heard them.”

Good thing she switched areas. Sometimes, that makes all the difference. And, it’s one more way that experienced hunters can get their bird. Too often, inexperienced hunters keep trying the same things over and over again, hoping for different results. But, sadly, those results often don’t come.

For Sister Joyce, who has been turkey hunting since about 1996, she gets a bird about every other year she hunts. That’s a 50 percent success rate, almost double the statewide average of about 25 percent. So, congratulations to Sister Joyce on a well earned bird!

My turn comes Wednesday in Wisconsin. I’ve got some great properties to hunt, and I’m hoping the weather will cooperate. Right now, it looks like some storms are going to come in Tuesday night and possibly last into Wednesday morning. I will set up a blind this afternoon and wait out the rain on Wednesday. Doesn’t sound like it will rain all day, so the birds will move once it quits. But, it is supposed to warm up to 80 degrees or even a little more. Turkeys aren’t fond of extreme heat, yet they should be active at least in the morning.

Forgetting to do your penance doesn't invalidate the confession but refusing to do it does. Photo/liquene. Licensed under Creative Commons.

Have you ever had to leave right after confession, intending to do your penance as soon as you could—but then you forgot? Or has a priest told you to do a charitable or self-sacrificial act for your penance instead of saying a prayer and because you couldn’t do it at that moment it slipped your mind? In both cases is the absolution valid?

The answer is, it depends.

As with many of the laws and norms governing the Christian life, your level of culpability depends on where your heart is. According to canon law, “the confessor is to impose salutary and suitable penances in accord with the quality and number of sins, taking into account the condition of the penitent. The penitent is obliged to fulfill these personally.” (Canon 981)

What makes a confession invalid

We’re obliged to do the penance, but what if we accidentally don’t? The conditions below make a confession invalid, according to a book co-authored by Cardinal Donald Wuerl:

No true sorrow for sins and lack of intention to avoid grave sin in the future,

Deliberately neglecting to confess all grave sins, or

Refusing to do an assigned penance.

So it seems that forgetting to do a penance doesn’t carry the same weight as willfully refusing to do it, and therefore doesn’t invalidate the absolution. But Father John Hardon points out that through centuries of Church teaching, the following have been required of those who receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation:

They must be truly sorry for their sins, at least out of fear of God’s punishments;

They must confess their grave sins, or (if there are no mortal sins) at least some venial sin(s) from their past life; and

They must perform the penance which the confessor gives them.

Importance of the penance

Receiving absolution isn’t the whole story, however. When it comes to making amends for our sins, the penance given in confession plays an important role.

The Catechism states: “Absolution takes away sin, but it does not remedy all the disorders sin has caused. Raised up from sin, the sinner must still recover his full spiritual health by doing something more to make amends for the sin: he must ‘make satisfaction for’ or ‘expiate’ his sins. This satisfaction is also called ‘penance.’” (CCC 1459)

I’m not quite at the point where I’m tying strings around my fingers to remember things like Uncle Billy in It’s a Wonderful Life but I have forgotten to do a penance – or worse, done it half-heartedly. I guess in those cases it might be good to think about why we’re going to confession and who we’re apologizing to.

St. John the Evangelist with book and quill at St. Michael in Madison, WI.

Love: Unifying Thread of the Second Readings of Easter B. Love is the hub around which the second readings of Easter, Year B, rotate. This series is taken from the First Letter of John, the sequence begins on Week Two and continues to Week Six, and love is mentioned in every scripture passage.

An Extension of the Gospel of John. The centrality of love in 1 John closely coincides with the love message in John’s gospel. Jesus spoke emphatically about the importance of love when he said, “I give you a new commandment: love one another” (Jn 13:34a; 15:17). If a disciple does not know precisely how to do this, Jesus instructed his followers to imitate him: “Love one another as I have loved you” (Jn 15:12). For Jesus, love is the litmus test of discipleship, “This is how all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (Jn 13:35). He further explained that his type of love is sacrificial, “There is no greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (Jn 15:13).

Love, a Timely Easter Message. Love is one of the most tangible ways that the risen Christ abides with us after his Ascension to heaven. Also, as early Christian churches were established, love acted as the unifier and harmonizer in communities with newly baptized converts from a wide range of languages, nations, and cultural practices.

Easter Week Two B, 1 Jn 5:1-6. The word “love” appears five times in the first selection of the series taken from the final chapter of the letter. The love of God and neighbor are inseparably intertwined: “We know that we love the children of God when we love God and obey his commandments” (1 Jn 5:2).

Easter Week Four B, 1 Jn 3:1-2. The love that disciples are to extend to others begins with the love that God first extends to us: “See what love the Father has bestowed on us that we may be called children of God” (1 Jn 3:1a), and the Father bestowed this love when he sent us Jesus: “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son (Jn 3:16).

Easter Week Five B, 1 Jn 3:18-24. John begins by admonishing the members of his community to not give lip service to love, “Children, let us love not in word of speech but in deed and in truth” (1 Jn 3:18); and then he refers to Jesus’ original teaching, “His commandment is this … love one another just as he commanded us” (1 Jn 3:23).

Easter Week Six B, 1 Jn 4:7-10. The most powerful statement is kept for last and acts as a grand conclusion: “God is love” (1 Jn 4:8). Hence, the greater the love, the greater the presence of the risen Christ! The letter encourages believers: “Let us love one another because love is of God; everyone who loves is begotten of God and has knowledge of God” (1 Jn 4:7).

Archbishop John Nienstedt’s residence was abuzz with activity this week, as two local Catholic high schools sent groups of students there for lunch.

First, there was the Benilde-St. Margaret’s varsity boys hockey team, which won the Class AA title last month. They arrived Monday for Mass and lunch. I stopped by briefly for a photo shoot of the players and coaches with Archbishop Nienstedt. There were smiles all around, and it looked like everyone enjoyed the event.

Then, just this afternoon, it was DeLaSalle High School’s turn. The school sent not one, but two teams – the varsity boys and varsity girls basketball teams, both of which captured Class AAA championships. Things got a little crowded on the steps on the back side of the archbishop’s residence when it came time for a group photo. But, we managed to squeeze everybody in, even the student managers.

I think having the championship teams over for Mass and lunch is a great idea. Hats off to Archbishop Nienstedt for thinking of it. Not sure if Archbishop Flynn ever did it. If he did, I was not aware of it. I got to witness all three teams win their respective championship games, so it was fun to see them celebrate with the archbishop.

I did not attend the Masses, but I found myself very curious what Archbishop Nienstedt talked about in his homily. Vocations, perhaps? I think it would be great to see someone from a successful sports team pursue a religious vocation. That could help open doors of communication to many more student-athletes.

A grade-school classmate of mine, Kelly Scott, has a son who played for DeLaSalle. Kelly told me that after one of the state tournament games, his son, Luke, went to a eucharistic adoration chapel that night.

I’ll bet the archbishop would be pleased to know this – and see more Catholic high school athletes do the same.

Several months ago, my wife Julie advised me to take a cell phone while on my 3-mile walk. Last night, I had to use it.

I was nearly halfway through when I felt pain in the middle toes of my right foot. Soon, it became very intense and I quickly realized I would not be able to walk on it much longer.

So, I pulled out the cell phone and dialed Julie’s number. Thankfully, she answered and I told her my plight. She said she would come right away.

I decided to hobble on, taking short, labored steps around the perimeter of a golf course. On a wooded portion across the street from the course, four whitetail deer fed silently in the grass.

I walked right past them at close range. They jerked their heads up and looked at me, but resumed feeding as I walked past. These semi-tame animals are nothing like their fully wild counterparts.

I wasn’t even 100 yards past the deer when Julie pulled up. I told her about the deer, and we drove up past them. Then, we continued on, turned around and pulled right up to them. I rolled down the passenger’s side window, and we enjoyed a few moments of watching the deer graze peacefully.

I was glad Julie got to witness the scene. Of course, I was even more grateful that she came to pick me up. The last time I didn’t finish a walk or run was in January of last year, when I severely sprained my left ankle and had to be driven home by a Good Samaritan.

I hope to try walking again tonight or tomorrow. But, I’m not going to push it. With my turkey hunt scheduled for next week, I’ll need to be able to do some walking to go after the birds. And, hopefully, I’ll walk out of the woods with a nice gobbler!

Good Friday, a time for solemn reflection, was a glorious day this year in more ways than one!

On this day, in front of the new 46,000 square foot Planned Parenthood facility, a whopping 3,200 people assembled praying to end the scourge of abortion. Instead of the typical “Good Friday Storm,” God showered them with the gift of sunshine. And He also bestowed a more important present–the gift of the Spirit moving on behalf of life.

Let me explain…

The Culture of Life v. The Culture of Death

At the old Planned Parenthood located in Highland Park, 4,000 babies were aborted each year. But those running it were not content with that number, so they built a bigger and grander facility, which opened last December. On Good Friday, pro-lifers marched quietly on the street in front of the new abortuary, where an area was cordoned off for the prayer vigil–those praying included religious leaders, families and children. The only sign they carried was a life-sized cross. On the other side of the fence, was a group supporting Planned Parenthood–including an elderly lady holding up a sign that read: “Don’t have sex with pro-lifers!” There was another woman over there who walked around with her pregnant belly exposed, and on the baby bump she had written: “My choice.” They jeered at the praying marchers.

And somewhere in the middle of these two groups, hesitating on the sidewalk near the entrance, was a mother contemplating abortion.

Father Larry Hubbard, a retired priest, was among the marchers, and he told me, “These mothers who have an appointment at Planned Parenthood on Good Friday are between the Lord on one side and the Devil on the other. The big question is: Who is going to win out?”

In the Gospel of Life (Evangelium Vitae) #50, Blessed John Paul II wrote:

“In the early afternoon of Good Friday, ‘there was darkness over the whole land…while the sun’s light failed; and the curtain of the temple was torn in two’ (Lk 23:44, 45). This is the symbol of a great cosmic disturbance and a massive conflict between the forces of good and evil, between life and death. Today we too find ourselves in the midst of a dramatic conflict between the ‘culture of death’ and the ‘culture of life.’ But the glory of the Cross is not overcome by this darkness; rather, it shines forth ever more radiantly and brightly, and is revealed as the center, meaning and goal of all history and of every human life.”

The glory of the Cross

Good Friday is a day of hope. But the woman who was hesitating on the sidewalk was no doubt feeling conflicted and quite hopeless. And even though the day was bright and sunny, this mother was probably experiencing a sense of darkness.

That is, until she met Father Larry Hubbard and the counselors with Pro-Life Action Ministries.

Brian Gibson, director of Pro-Life Action Ministries, told me that one of his staff members and a sidewalk counselor had approached the woman and laid the groundwork. They had given her literature and told her that help was available. This is when Fr. Hubbard came to the mother’s side and shone forth brightly.

“I sensed this mother was at the point of going in to abort her baby. She was such a fine lady, and she told me she didn’t want to have the abortion,” recalled Fr. Hubbard, who is also known as ‘Padre Lorenzo’ in his ministry with the Spanish speaking Catholics. “She was with a man, but he was already inside Planned Parenthood waiting for her. I think he was the one who wanted her to have the abortion, and she was just torn apart.”

Father spent about 10-15 minutes talking with the woman, and eventually encouraged her to bring the man out so that Father could speak with him, too.

The good priest said, “I walked with the vigil-goers for an hour and a half, and prayed for this couple…but she didn’t come back.” Then Father, who was there that day to fill in for another priest, went home with a heavy heart–thinking she had gone forward with the abortion.

But little did he know…

The mother chose life!

About four minutes after Father Hubbard left Planned Parenthood, the mother came out with the man. Charlie Ramsey, a staff member at Pro-Life Action Ministries, said that the couple was very receptive to obtaining help for the unborn child, and was directed toward it.

Brian Gibson said, “Father Hubbard is a gentle soul and he played a vital role is saving this baby. His intervention was by divine appointment!”

How did Father Hubbard discover the big news?

“I called him and left a message saying that the woman he had been speaking to at the Good Friday vigil left the facility. And then I told him that he had saved a baby that day,” Brian Gibson told me.

‘Padre Lorenzo’ got choked up when he talked to me about it. “I never dreamed I’d be able to change someone’s mind. That was my first one-on-one encounter.” Father, who has prayed often in front of abortion facilities, definitely gave that mother something important to ponder on Good Friday–just like Jesus did to the women He passed as He carried the cross: “Daughters, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and your children” (Lk 23-28). And this is just what this mother did. Father Hubbard said that the presence of the people at the prayer vigil, some carrying the cross, is really beautiful support which encourages mothers to choose to keep their babies. Then he added, “Thanks be to God that mother stuck to her guns and came out of Planned Parenthood–with her baby!”

And thanks be to God Father Larry Hubbard was at the vigil that day. That pre-born child was the eighth baby saved from abortion since that facility opened its doors in December. Brian Gibson and his staff are very excited that another mother was talked out of an abortion this past week, bringing the total to nine.

Father had this to say about the work of Pro-Life Action Ministries: “Brian Gibson is so persevering and his staff and volunteers are just beautiful–they want to save babies!” When I told Father that I thought the mother whose baby he helped to save should name her child ‘Larry’ or ‘Lorenza’ he gave a joyful chuckle.

St. George, Fact and Fiction. Almost nothing historical is known about St. George. Shreds of factual data suggest that he was a Christian who lived during the late Third Century when there were fierce persecutions against the Church, and that he was beheaded in Lydda, Palestine, sometime around 303 AD. Over the ensuing centuries his popularity grew enormously, and in the Twelfth Century a fantastic legend emerged about him as a dragon-slayer. The story is folklore, not history, but captivating nonetheless.

A Dragon with Halitosis. The tale begins with George, a Christian knight, attired in armor and mounted on a mighty steed. In his travels he came upon Sylene, a city in Libya, North Africa. The city was near a marshy swamp where a fierce dragon prowled about, and it ventured forth from time to time, and it terrorized the countryside. The local citizens banded together to mount an attack to kill it, but the dragon’s breath was so horrible that they were not able to get close enough to accomplish their mission.

A Devouring Dragon. The dragon had a ferocious appetite, so to prevent the dragon from entering the city the residents fed it with two sheep each day. When the supply of sheep ran out, a person was chosen by lot to be given to the dragon to eat. On one occasion the lot fell to the king’s own daughter, and no one was willing to take her place. The young princess was marched out to the dragon, dressed as a bride to meet her doom.

St. George to the Rescue. George arrived at the outskirts of the city at this tragic moment. He attacked the dragon, and with his lance he speared it, nailing it to the ground, but without killing it. Then he took the king’s daughter’s girdle and tied it around the dragon’s neck, and the princess, taking hold of the garment, used it to tow the dragon into the city, the beast following tamely behind.

A Bargain to Slay the Dragon. With the dragon inside the city, the residents were overcome with mortal anguish, and as they were about to flee George told them that they had nothing to fear, and declared, “If you believe in Jesus Christ, and if you will consent to baptism, then I will kill the dragon.” The king and his subjects quickly agreed, so St. George squared off with the dragon and courageously slayed it. Next, fifteen thousand were baptized. The king offered George great treasure, but he refused it and instructed the king to give it to the poor. As George departed, he made four requests of the king: keep the churches in good repair; honor the priests; attend church services regularly yourself; and show special concern for the poor.

Patronage. St. George was the patron saint of the Crusades, knights and soldiers. Currently he is revered as the patron saint of England and Georgia in Russia, as well as horse-back riders, soldiers in the cavalry, and the Boy Scouts.

And this time St. Paul the Hermit faces the right way — upward in prayer

Art lovers won’t want to miss the beautiful sculpture of St. Paul the Hermit that’s on display — the right way now — at the Minneapolis Institute of Art.

The larger-than-life-size work of 18th century Italian artist Andrea Bergondi was acquired by the MIA nearly 40 years ago, but until this year the piece wasn’t displayed the way it is now presumed was originally intended. Credit goes to the folks at MIA for rediscovering the proper positioning and not only fixing it but being very public about the misplacement.

Read about the details here, but the short version is that, the way the piece was displayed before, it looked as if the bearded old hermit was diving off a cliff, as a wonderful display explained for several weeks. That display — now down — showcased the Bergondi work in a separate room, with the story of the statue’s restoration and realignment explained in storyboards along the walls of the room.

What the correction did was turn the statue so that the saintly one was seen to be praying upward to God — which seems more appropriate than for him to be going for a dip in a lake.

Find out more about St. Paul the Hermit here, but the back story behind the piece that comes to us from early church tradition is that St. Anthony Abbot found the body of St. Paul the Hermit frozen in prayer. That’s exactly what you’ll see today in the marble image on display at the Minneapolis Institute of Art.

The calendar says April, but the blossoms on the trees say May. Just within the last few days, I have noticed lilacs and crabapple blossoms popping up all over town. So, I stopped for just a few minutes the other day to record them with my camera.

It didn’t take long. In the same block, I shot a beautiful crabapple tree, then simply crossed the street to photograph the lilacs. With beautiful sunlight illuminating them, I couldn’t miss.

I don’t ever recall lilacs blooming in April. In fact, as recently as last year, they didn’t bloom until the second half of May. So, they came a month earlier this year.

I have been nervous that this could mean an incredibly hot summer, but temperatures this week have plunged back down to normal, or even a little below. So, I’m feeling a little more at ease. I don’t like high heat and humidity, and I don’t think it’s certain if we’ll have that this summer.

I also don’t like extreme heat now because it can shut down the activity of the wild turkey, which I will be hunting this spring starting May 2. Still not sure how much the breeding will be ahead of schedule due to the early and warm spring. The males certainly were raring to go early, but biologists say hens don’t necessarily breed and lay eggs earlier. That has more to do with the amount of daylight.

The key for my hunt will be whether or not the hens have finished laying their eggs and spend most of their time sitting on nests. This is the time to hunt because the toms start moving around looking for hens and gobbling more intensely. I hit that time period right last year, and hope to do so again this year.

In the meantime, I’ll continue to enjoy the spring flower and blossom show!